Export your catalog from Lotdesk to Auction Flex

Write the lots once, at the piece. When the sale is ready, one button gives you the file Auction Flex imports and the photographs named the way it matches them to lots, for the desktop version and for Auction Flex 360.

What you click

Open the sale and choose Export for your platform, with photographs.
Find Auction Flex (desktop) and Auction Flex 360 and choose Download with photographs (ZIP), or the one for the version you run.
Open import-steps.txt in the ZIP. It is the vendor's own import screens, in order, with the field names this file uses.

What is in the ZIP

The CSV: inventory-import.csv (12 columns) or lots-import.csv (10 columns), one row per lot in lot order.
An images folder: every photograph under the name the platform matches by, like 771-1.jpeg.
warnings.txt: what to look at before you import, in plain sentences.
import-steps.txt: the steps, ready to print.

What Lotdesk does to fit the format

Consignor codes: Auction Flex skips a row whose code it does not know, so Lotdesk writes the code you gave each consignor and warns about any lot without one.
Per-item pricing: the desktop import reads start bid and estimates per item, so a lot with a quantity above 1 is listed for you to check.
Condition: Auction Flex has no condition field, so the note goes in Long UDF1 (desktop) or is added to the description (360).

The columns it writes

Auction Flex (desktop)

#	Header in the file	What goes in it
1	`Lot#`	the lot number (a sublot keeps its letter, like 27A)
2	`Consignor/Vendor Code`	the consignor's own code
3	`Lead/Title`	the lot title
4	`Description1`	the description
5	`Quantity`	the quantity
6	`Ship`	left empty
7	`Full Category`	the category
8	`Start Bid Each`	the start bid
9	`Total Reserve`	the reserve (private)
10	`Min Est Each`	the low estimate
11	`Max Est Each`	the high estimate
12	`Long UDF1`	the condition note

Auction Flex 360

#	Header in the file	What goes in it
1	`Lot Number`	the lot number (a sublot keeps its letter, like 27A)
2	`Seller Code`	the consignor's own code
3	`Title`	the lot title
4	`Description`	the description
5	`Quantity`	the quantity
6	`Category`	the category
7	`Starting Bid`	the start bid
8	`Reserve`	the reserve (private)
9	`Low Estimate`	the low estimate
10	`High Estimate`	the high estimate

Open the sample sale's file now

This is the real output for the sample sale, from the same code a house's own sale goes through. The reserve cell is always blank in a public file.

What the free lots include

Your first 25 lots are free, with their photographs and the printable catalog. The export files, CSV and ZIP, come with the $79 a month plan. A house whose plan has ended can still take its sale out.

The same files read back in: Lotdesk recognizes Auction Flex's headings when you bring a sale in, so a sale can go out and come back. See bringing a sale in from a spreadsheet, and the other direction, how Auction Flex reads the file.

What this format rests on

Status	What it says	Where it comes from
Vendor documentation	The desktop Inventory Import reads a CSV. A Consignor Code that already exists in Auction Flex and a Lot # (or Inventory #) are required; a row whose consignor code is unknown is skipped.	Auction Flex help center, Inventory Import, dated 2025-07-11
Vendor documentation	Photographs come in as a separate step, matched to lots by file name.	Auction Flex help center, Inventory Import, dated 2025-07-11
Third-party account	The twelve columns and their order for the desktop import: Lot#, Consignor/Vendor Code, Lead/Title, Description1, Quantity, Ship, Full Category, Start Bid Each, Total Reserve, Min Est Each, Max Est Each, Long UDF1.	Lot Lingo's guide to importing into Auction Flex, a third party's tool
Third-party account	Photographs named like 771-1.jpeg; more than 1,000 images split across folders.	Lot Lingo's guide, a third party's tool
Unverified	Long UDF1 carries the condition note. Auction Flex has no condition field, so this is Lotdesk's choice; any user-defined long field would do.	Not published by the vendor
Vendor documentation	Auction Flex 360 reads a CSV only, from a template at Lots, Import Lots, CSV Template. The Seller Code maps the consignor, a field-mapping step matches your headers to its fields, and photographs are named 1-1, 1-2 (1.1 and 1_1 are also read).	Auction Flex 360 help center, Mass Import Lots & Images, dated 2025-10-31
Third-party account	Auction Flex 360 limits a title to 50 characters on bulk import.	AuctionWriter's guide, dated 2025-03-11, a third party's tool
Unverified	The Auction Flex 360 template's own header names are behind a login, so Lotdesk writes plain names and the field-mapping step matches them.	Not published. Per the vendor's published documentation; check against your own import screen.

Date these sources were read: 2026-10-01. A format can change without notice; if your import screen shows something different, trust your screen and tell us.

Open a book — free for your first 25 lots Look at the sample sale first